BLUE DRAGON DEFENSE DEVOURS NEO

Hutchinson CC Sports Information

The Hutchinson Community College men's basketball team's defense was overpowering all night on Saturday at the Sports Arena. It took a while, but the offense joined in.

The Blue Dragons held NEO to 22.4 percent shooting and forced 25 turnovers as No. 1-ranked Hutchinson blitzed the Golden Norse 87-42 in a battle of 2-0 teams at the Sports Arena.

Hutchinson improves to 3-0 overall as it heads to the Tabor College JV on Tuesday in Hillsboro. NEO falls to 2-1. In Saturday's earlier game, North Lake College defeated the Tabor College JV 90-61.

The Blue Dragons posted their largest margin of victory in the all-time series against NEO. Saturday's 45-point victory topped the previous high of 38 set in 2014 (105-67). The 42 points allowed on Wednesday were the fewest allowed to the Golden Norse in the 23-game series. The previous NEO low output against Hutchinson was 54 points in 2012.

The last time the Blue Dragons held an NJCAA Division I opponent to 42 or few points was Fort Scott, which scored 39 in a Region VI Tournament opening-round victory in 2011.

Hutchinson's defense limited NEO to 11 of 49 shooting (22.4 percent). The Norse had only six 2-point goals in the contest. Hutch forced 25 NEO turnovers, 14 by Blue Dragons steals. The Dragons outscored NEO 26-10 in points off turnovers.

The Blue Dragons held NEO scoreless for stretches of 6:36 and 3:26 of the opening half, but led only 17-10 with 5:57 remaining in the half. Over the final 25 minutes, 3 seconds of the game, Hutchinson outscored NEO 70-32.

Sophomore J.J. Rhymes led another balanced scoring attack for Hutchinson with 15 points on 6 of 12 shooting.

Freshmen Curtis Hollis and Rheaquone Taylor had 13 points each off the bench to lead a 54-19 advantage in points off the bench.

Freshman Josh Creach posted his first career double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Devonte Bandoo had nine points and eight rebounds. Robert Whitfield had seven points.

The Blue Dragons shot only 40.7 percent (33 of 81), hitting a season-high seven 3-pointers in 19 attempts and 14 of 21 from the foul line.

Hutchinson out-rebounded NEO 60-33 with 24 offensive rebounds. The 60 boards tie for the third-most boards in team history matching games against Pratt (2008), Coffeyville (2015) and Garden City (2017).

Dylan Ven Eyck had nine points on three 3-pointers to lead the Norse.

Neither team could get its offenses going in the first half. Bandoo scored the first points of the game at the 18:02 mark and the Blue Dragons proceeded to go scoreless for the next 5:01. Rhymes' tip-in with 13:01 left gave the Dragons a 4-3 lead.

The Dragons led 11-9 at the first-half media timeout and their offense started to show signs of life. A Whitfield transition layup after an NEO turnover gave the Dragons a 17-9 lead. Back-to-back 3-pointers by Whitfield and Curtis Hollis pushed the lead to 14 at 26-12 with 4:27 to play. A Hollis layup with 1:53 left pushed the Dragon lead to 35-15. The Dragosn led 36-21 at halftime.

Hutch scored the first 11 points of the second half and held NEO scoreless for the first 3:57 of the period to lead 47-21 on a Rhymes jumper. The lead went to 30 (57-27) on a Taylor free throw with 13:06 remaining. It reached 40 on a Taylor jumper with 6:45 left for a 70-30 advantage. Hutch's largest lead was 47 points.